Kallen let out a breath, her hands matted with sweat as she held onto the controls of the old Glasgow. The Atmo-Suit itched at her neck as she held still in the cockpit. Her eyes glazed on the blank expanse of space feeding into her screen. Letting out a tired sigh she let one hand slip from its handle and tapped part of the upper left of the controls. "Ohgi, what's the status on that ship? Intel said it would be here by about now?" She spoke into the comms.
"Intel ain't always correct Kallen, best guess is that the Britannian Freighter is lagging." Ohgi replied through the comms. "Well if it takes any longer I'll have too get back into the ship to refuel, this old mule is gobbling sakurite just sitting out here." Kallen replied. "It will be here soon, just sit tight a bit longer and we'll have that freighter right where we want it." Ohgi responded. Kallen didn't reply, just taking her eyes back to the scanner to her right.
She had spent over an hour in the Glasgow, waiting on the dark side of a lone asteroid. Watching as stars twinkled while waiting for a supposed Britannian Freighter hauling metric tons of raw materials to fly by. There was no Gate for its destination, so it had no choice but to go at sublight between the systems.
So here she was, waiting on a raid planned out carefully by her brother and the captain. If the Freighter was carrying what their Intel said it was, they'll be robbing the Britannian war machine of vital raw materials. Materials they would use to conquer and subjugate both the unclaimed territories and the various stellar factions.
Like they did their home.
Kallen shook her head before she turned her gaze back to the scanner. A small blip appeared, traveling quickly across the system. Kallen adjusted the stance of her Glasgow as a second blip appeared on her scanner. Her right hand went to a small switch near the scanner and flicked it, the display swapping from 2D too 3D. The Glasgow, the ship, and the asteroid they were hiding on sat at a 37 degree angle away from the small flotilla's course. Finally her screen caught sight of the target.
A single Britannian Freighter, a large hollow frame connected to a small crew area and filled with hundreds of metal containers pushed onwards by six large sublight engines located along the side of the vessel. Alongside the freighter was a Britannian Frigate, long with a heavy rail cannon running along the lower half of the bow, pushed by four sublight engines scattered across the four sides of the vessel's hull. Narrowing her view Kallen could see missile tubes lining the "left" and "right" of the Frigate as well as smaller kinetic weapons on the parallel sides. The Frigate was barely a tenth the size of the Freighter, yet it was still much larger than their own ship.
"I see it, prepare the lance." She heard Ohgi shout over the comms. Her gaze shifted to the ship itself, specifically the large Particle Lance they had jury rigged onto the main cannon of their ship. It had once been a transport ship, just a bit smaller than a Corvette, but through the years of tedious modification, selling off of certain pieces, and retrofits it was more a large gunboat than anything else. A Gun boat armed with a main weapon mainly used by Cruisers and Destroyers.
The Lance gave off a faint glow before a line of solid bolt of energy flew from the barrel at near light speed. The shot tore into the side of the Frigate, Tearing off one of its kinetic weapons and leaving a gash along the outer plating. Kallen let the thrusters of her Glasgow roar to life as she flew forward on an intercept coarse with the two ships. The cockpit rattled at the sudden movement as the damaged Frigate began opening fire. Missiles flew towards her as the Frigate adjusted its stance so its Rail Cannon had a direct view of her.
Pressing a button on her left control she let out a series of flares while adjusting her right controls to return fire. With grit teeth she opened fire with the Dual Chemical Propelled Anti Ship Rifle in the Glasgow's Right hand as the flares tore away the attention of the first missile barrage. "Kallen, just keep that Frigate's attention on you for a bit longer. The Lance is already back to half charge." Ohgi spoke through the comms. "Already on it." Kallen shot back as the Frigate let loose a second barrage of missiles alongside a salvo of kinetic rounds. She returned fire, keeping her D.C.P.A.S.R. on a three shot burst so that she doesn't waste ammo.
Pushing the Glasgow to its limits Kallen increased the power of the thrusters. The cockpit shuttered and groaned as her Glasgow reached the Freughter. The Britannian Frigate was forced to readjust, the crew most likely terrified of hitting the valuable materials held by the Freighter. She used her left hand to take hold on the Freighter's side while her eyes ran back too the Scanner. A brief bolt of plasma flashed by her screen as a second shot tore through the Frigate's Rail Cannon.
"Direct hit, Rail Cannon is down, I repeat, Rail Cannon is down." Kallen reported through the comms. "Gotcha, we're moving in now." Ohgi replied as Kallen glanced back at the scanner. She could see the Frigate was now floating tirelessly, sections of the main hull torn open with a few crew even sucked out. She kept her D.C.P.A.S.R. trailed on the Frigate as their ship neared the Frieghter. "No movement from the Frigate, must have exposed their command centre when you brought down its cannon." Kallen reported in as her eyes narrowed.
She waited, her hand on the trigger and ready to fire at the smallest sign of movement. A loud hissing sound from the comms took her attention away, letting her see their ship now docked with the crew areas of the Freighter. Hydraulics and Magnetic locks keeping the ship firmly in place. Her comms steadily playing out orders from their boarding team.
Ohgi held his gun calmly as the frightened Britannian crew held up their arms in a mock surrender. "Alright, I'm sure you understand what's about to happen. We'll be taking this ship and its cargo and you'll get to live." he paused, turning too Naoto. "Single file line into the escape pods. You don't try to fight and we won't open fire." he finished the line while raising his gun in warning. The crew seemed to look between one another as the rest of Ohgi's crew checked through the crew areas.
"You won't get away with this, I hope you know that." One of the Britannian Crew replied, the captain if the sigal on his Atmo-suit was to be believed. "Well we are, at least you'll get to write home about it." Naoto replied as the crew were led to the escape pods. The crew gave little fight, all six of them piled into the main escape pod as Tamaki shut the door. The canister of metal flying out from the rest of the Freighter with ease. "You know, for all their bolstering, Britannians tend to be little more than toothless lions." Tamaki commented. "We were lucky, it only took two shot to take out the Frigate." Naoto replied as they began walking back to the control room. "Yeah, well now we just have to fly this thing back to unclaimed space and see how much it'll catch." Tamaki said as he put himself in the pilot's seat.
"All clear here Kallen, what's the situation like out in the void?" Ohgi inquired through his comms. "Still all quiet, Frigate's just floating like a dead fish." Kallen replied. Ohgi could see Tamaki adapt a sly grin on his face. "Think we could scrap it as well, some of those parts would catch a good price?" he asked. "Perhaps, but we don't have time for both." Oghi replied while crossing his arms. Naoto just smiled as the Freighter's engines roared to life. "Is the ship still secure too the Freighter's surface?" Ohgi asked. "Yep." "Still holding strong Ohgi." Came the responses from Kallen and the pilot. "All right Tamaki, get us out of here. The sooner we leave the less time the Britannians have for a counter attack." Ohgi instructed. "Gotcha boss." Tamaki said as the Frighter began it's new coarse.
"Now for the worst part, three whole days of sub light speed." Ohgi lamented. "Ah relax, we gave those Britannian bastards what for." Tamaki joked before something rattled the ship. People were sent to the floor as Ohgi held onto the walls for dear life. "TAMAKI!!" he yelled. "That wasn't me!!" Tamaki yelled back. "Ohgi, we have Sutherlands crawling out of the cargo!!" Kallen shouted over the comms. "What?" Ohgi shouted. "Naoto, get the ship into battle position." Ohgi instructed. Naoto ran back to the breach connecting their ship with the Freighter as Tamaki gunned the engines.
Kallen braced herself as she starred down the group of Sutherlands. Even as the destroyed Frigate drifted away they remained close. "Pirate Scum, I'll see you all executed by my hands." was all the lead Sutherland spouted before aiming a Phase Cannon at Kallen's Glasgow. With a jerking motion Kallen forced the Glasgow to dodge as a volley of high temperature energy raced where her mech had just been. Kallen aimed her D.C.P.A.S.R and fired, nailing the torso of one Sutherland before the others dodged out of the way.
"Can't leave here, if I do then our ship will be vulnerable." Kallen steeled herself as she pushed the old machine too its limits. She was practically caged, those Sutherlands could moved much faster than her Glasgow, even though their weapons were single shot only. She had five more seconds before they would fire again and she had no intention of wasting time. As the Sutherlands spread out around the Freighter she aimed her D.C.P.A.S.R up and swapped it to full auto. A storm of Kinetic rounds tore into a pair of Sutherlands, forcing their pilots to eject as their mech exploded. Kallen made a spare glance at her scanner to see how many were left.
Ten more remained, and some of them were already aiming for the ship. Quickly she shifted the angle of her Glasgow, flying away from the next volley of Phase Cannon shots. She turned her D.C.P.A.S.R and rushed the four Sutherlands making a B-Line for the ship. She tore another Sutherland in half with a volley of kinetic rounds before the others flew out her path.
She glared at them as she put her Glasgow between them and the ship. "Ohgi, are the weapons back online yet?" She inquired through the comms. "Not yet, we still have to disconnect from the Freighter before we can properly fight." Ohgi replied as three Sutherlands charged forward with extended wrist blades. Kallen aimed her D.C.P.A.S.R and let a rip, shredding through the lead Sutherland before the others began their counter attack. Another volley of Phase Cannon fire swam over her, some even glancing off the sloped armor of the Glasgow's chassis.
An alarm sounded inside the cockpit as holes began appearing on the internals. The screen cracked as sweat began to run down Kallen's brow. With the chassis broken, all that was protecting her from the cold void of space was her Atmo-Suit. Gritting her teeth and swallowing her fear, Kallen continued her fight. Rushing forwards with brash disregard, firing off ber D.C.P.A.S.R with barely contained wrath. She danced between the next volley of shots, wrecking havoc even too her own Glasgow. Sparks flew and panels flickered as she ran her Glasgow's fist right into the chassis of the nearest Sutherland while she continued firing her D.C.P.A.S.R. at any target she could see.
Another three Sutherlands fell to her attack before she was hit from behind. The left arm of her Glasgow blasted clean off by a sneak attack. "OHGI!!!" Kallen shouted into the comms before another shot struck the side of the D.C.P.A.S.R, melting the barrel on contact. "Shit!!" Kallen exclaimed as she let go of the now useless weapon and went for the Glasgow's emergency wrist blade. Her right hand slamming on the ammo packs release so that the ruined weapon wouldn't float alongside her Glasgow.
Fire began in the cockpit as the lead Sutherland rushed her with a Lance in hand, electricity crackling off of its tip as they pointed it right at her. Kallen was rocked by another hit, her vision blacking out for a second as more alarms blared. She looked up just as the lead Sutherland's Electric Lance was mere feet away from her.
Until the Sutherland was pulverized by a large kinetic round hitting centre mass. Kallen looked back, her half damaged scanner showing that the round flew right from the ship. More followed suit as the remaining Sutherlands were forced too back away less they be destroyed like their commander. Kallen held her controls and flew back too the ship, rounds continued flying as she did so.
"Kallen, what's your condition?!!" Ohgi shouted through the comms. "Pretty banged up, Lost an arm and the gun." Kallen replied. "Damn." Was all she heard Ohgi say. Kallen just grit her teeth as she had her Glasgow take position next to the ship. She could see the remaining Sutherlands taking position and aiming for the both of them. Even as the four turreted kinetic weapons on the ship aimed and fired the Sutherlands grew wise to its pattern and evaded each shot.
Another volley flew forward, beams shot from their Phase Cannons punching into the less vital areas of her Glasgow and the weapons on their ship. Kallen felt her blood freeze as several explosions rocked across the ship, parts of it even tearing off from the force of the hit. She tried to speak, yet her mouth dried the moment she tried to open it.
"STATIC..."
"STATIC..."
"If you can hear me, if you want to live. Tilt the nose of the Frieghter down by forty two degrees."
Kallen felt her eyes go wide at the strange voice on their comms. It wasn't Britannian, it wasn't anyone she could recognize. She could hear Tamako arguing with the voice, she could see the rest of their team in Atmo-Suits bailing from the ship onto the Freighter's surface.
"If you don't tilt it down, you will all die." the voice continued. Kallen glared at the Sutherlands and raised her lone wrist blade as they moved in for the kill. Suddenly her footing shifted, nai, the entire Freighter shifted. The shots missed, Kallen and the Ship held on by the magnetic holds that kept them anchored to the surface.
Then something flew past them, appearing only for a brief flash before it struck the centre of the Britannian's formation. A horrid tear appeared, dragging the remaining Sutherlands into it. it was as though they'd been forcing into a narrow passage that was slowly sucking them in. Not even a moment later the enemy knightmare frames were gone, only scrap remained.
"Good, I will be approaching your ship and wish to talk." The mysterious voice stated before the comms grew silent. "Ohgi? Naoto?" Kallen asked into the comms. "We're all here Kallen, we're still breathing." Ohgi replied as Kallen let her shoulders sag. "Do you have any idea who the owner of that voice was?" She asked after taking a moment to calm down. "Not a clue." Ohgi replied before something appeared on the right of her screen. Kallen turned her damaged Glasgow and almost gasped as a large ship came into view.
Much of its body was thin, with the centre of the frame jutting out a certain area to accommodate large hangers and ship bays. The front of the ship was ended with two long outcrops, the higher one being much bulkier and wider while the lower one appeared to house a large Rail Cannon. A light fixture along the higher outcrop outlined the name of the ship, The "Geass". The back of the ship was thinner than the rest, house extra docking bays and a series of engines along the back. Near the bottom of the craft sat two massive 360 degree maneuvering thrusters, allowing the ship to move in any manner despite its size, even if its was a fourth the Freighter's size.
On the bottom was a large open hanger bay, from which a large and bulky Knightmare Frame stood with a strange looking cannon held in it's two arms. The Knightmare frame waved a greeting at them as the ship neared the Freighter. "Now, since I aided you I believe it is best that I introduce myself. I am known as Zero, and this is my ship, The Pilot in the Knightmare frame is a member of my crew." The now known Zero spoke through the comms as Kallen watched the larger Knightmare Frame walked away from the hanger bay door. "What do you want?" Kallen heard Ohgi ask through the comms. "What I want... I had an interest in the supplies the Freighter had been hauling. I am no mere thief but I am willing to make a deal with you all." Zero said as the Knightmare Frame reappeared without the cannon it had been carrying.
"Well, we are in need of protection." Kallen heard Ohgi mutter. "Don't give him too much ground." She whispered while clenching her fists. "I can see that. A ship with a broken hull and a half destroyed Glasgow. I have facilities aboard this ship that may interest you. In exchange for an escort and housing, alongside repairs. We shall have sixty percent of the resources from the Freighter in exchange." Zero stated. Kallen heard Ohgi sigh before she adjusted her Glasgow's position.
"What guarentee do I have that you would hold up your end of the bargain?" he inquired. "You don't, its entirely up to you. See how far you and your crew will make it either what you have left. Or accept my offer and exchange some of the resources aboard this Freighter for aid and protection." Zero stated in a most blunt manner. "Fine." Ohgi said, much to Kallen's chagrin. The large ship moved closer, several hydraulic arms extended out from the bottom of the ship and clamped down on the empty surface of the Freighter. The hanger bay opened farther as the Knightmare Frame flew down and pasted them.
"The facility is open, I believe you should move your gunship and your Glasgow into the hanger before they become inoperable." Zero advised through the comms as the Knightmare Frame approached. Kallen hit the controls, only letting out a groan as the Glasgow refused to move. "Its shot, can't get it to move an inch." Kallen said through the comms before the Knightmare Frame turned to her. She let out a sigh as the Knightmare Frame grabbed onto her Glasgow's frame and gently pulled it into the open hanger bay.
Kallen looked around, taking a final moment to look around the Glasgow's damaged cockpit. All the exposed wiring, the constant retrofitting and modifications. The old Mule was held together by little else but duct tape and sheer stubbornness. As she felt the artificial gravity of the Geass' Hanger bay sweep over her she opened the hatch on the cockpit and climbed out.